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Souichirou Kuzuki (葛木 宗一郎, Kuzuki Sōichirō?) is the acting Master of Caster in the Fifth Holy Grail War of Fate/stay night. He is known as the strict homeroom instructor of Rin's class, who is not a magus, but simply happened upon Caster while she was fading away and agreed to become her Master.

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Before he came to Fuyuki City, Souichirou had been raised from childhood by an organization that trained young children to become professional assassins. The children were raised while isolated from the rest of society in places like forests. They were taught skills required for killers and were treated as if they were tools. Teaching knowledge on living as normal humans was minimal to ensure the skills of the potential assassins in their care would remain adequate and efficient.

He left the organization and appeared in Fuyuki City, two years before the Fifth Holy Grail War. He chose to become a school teacher, which was to serve as a cover for his job as an assassin. He primarily lectures on World History, though he also holds classes in Ethics. Kuzuki is well respected among staff and students. He was well-liked by the chief priest at the Ryuudou Temple and was granted residency in the temple.[2]

Souichirou is widely regarded as a strict, austere and impersonal man. He is serious, sometimes emotionless and does whatever Caster says in battle even though he does not care about the Holy Grail. He often displays a blank expression.

Souichirou found that when he accomplished his first and only mission, he felt only emptiness rather than any other emotion. Hoping to find meaning in his life, he left the organization and became a school teacher. He found no meaning and found that he could acknowledge only his own existence. He described himself as a "decayed killer" (朽ち果てた殺人鬼, Kuchihateta satsujinki?).[2]

When he met Caster, he felt something move within him. While he had no interest in the coming Holy Grail War, Souichirou helped her just because she asked for it. His motive to fight is similar to Shirou Emiya.[2]

According to Fate/hollow ataraxia, he finally realizes that he regretted his whole life and how he killed others, knowing and understanding that what he was doing was wrong yet still continuing that kind of life. Uncertain of how to make expiation for his guilt, he suffered during his whole life yet managed to find some peace with Caster.

Souichirou is not a mage, but a highly trained assassin. After Caster killed her previous Master and summoned the servant Assassin, she chose Souichirou to be her new Master. He has no interest in the Holy Grail War and acts mainly according to the will of Caster. It seemed that the two have a strong love interest in each other. It's implied that he sleeps with her on at least one occasion to restore her mana, as Shirou Emiya had done with Saber.

His identity as a Master is not made known in the Fate route and his fate there is thus unknown. In Fate/hollow atraxia, it is revealed that he and Assassin were both killed by Gilgamesh while Caster was absent. In the Studio Deen anime adaptation of the Fate route, he dies after Caster does.

Kuzuki only plays a major role in the Unlimited Blade Works route, in which he is revealed as Caster's Master. He is shown capable of single-handedly defeating Saber. His background as an assassin is also revealed. After Caster sacrifices herself to protect Kuzuki from Archer's hail of swords, Kuzuki chooses to continue fighting against Archer despite being offered a chance to leave. He is killed soon after.

In the Heaven's Feel route, he is only mentioned in passing, when Saber confronts Caster at the temple. Shirou and Saber find her covered in blood with Rule Breaker out and coated as well, a man Shirou recognizes and believes to have been Caster's Master, stabbed fatally and in a pool of blood on the floor, already a corpse. Caster does not seem to know she killed him, however.

In the adaptation, Heaven's Feel I. presage flower, Kuzuki is found by Caster, having been fatally wounded by True Assassin. She uses Rule Breaker on herself to rescind her contract with Assassin as per his demands to save Kuzuki's life. However, he kills Kuzuki by throwing a dirk into his head after stabbing Caster in the throat to kill her.

Kuzuki rarely appears in Carnival Phantasm, with the exception of Episode 7, which focuses on his relationship with Caster. Kuzuki receives a good luck charm from Caster that repels danger and leads him to win a string of awards and receive money.

Kuzuki is a minor, background character in Today's Menu for Emiya Family. His largest appearance so far is in Episode 9, when Caster's desire to cook a special dish for him kicks off the episode's plot. He also has small appearances in Episode 4 and Episode 11.

In the world of Hana no Miyako, he is the father of Ami. He is seen over protective with her daughter and tells her to disguise herself in school. He is glad to see Ami made a friend with Arima Miyako.

Kuzuki is the Master of Caster, but he is not a magus nor does he have Magic Circuits or Command Spells. He only acts as her anchor to the world, while she must subside off of the magical energy taken from the leylines and the town in order to upkeep her existence. His sperm was still capable of stabilizing her enough to establish their contract after she was brought within Ryuudou Temple’s Barrier.[3][4] Due to his martial prowess and Caster's reinforcement, he is a rare Master capable of only fighting opponents directly rather than acting from a support role.[5]

Kuzuki is a master martial artist whose strength is above that of regular humans, able to deliver blows to a man's temple with enough force to crush their skull.[6][7][8] In his pursuit of mastering his martial art in his daily training, he has come upon the ideal form of breathing and walking techniques for a human that not even the talented Saber could attain through training. While not in the realm of those who naturally possess the ability to replicate potent thaumaturgy, his training has "affected him in the perfect way", bringing about a natural and controlled way of breathing and steps that produce no wasted movement. Saber admires and praises him as the greatest she has seen in that one respect.[9]

Despite his strength, he, as a regular human, cannot fight Servants on his own, showing an inability do more than slightly budge the head of one with a strike.[8] Caster uses Reinforcement magecraft to strengthen his fists and body to ten times that of a normal human, making him even more fearsome when combined with his already superhuman base strength. Even with that, he is still a human at his core, so fighting and overwhelming a Servant barehanded is an unthinkable feat that even leaves all those around him, even including Caster, in pause.[5][7][10] His fists become "iron clubs" to crush opponents and physically strike Servants.[5][6] He is able to physically repel threats on the same level as Assassin, so he is referred to as a "front-line Saber-class defender" who can help support Caster even against a threat like Berserker.[11] The strengthening requires Caster's upkeep, so his strength immediately drops upon her death.

His fists are strengthened to the point where they can be called steel. He is able to destroy Rin's head with a single blow, removing everything above her neck, and he is able to create a hole through Shirou's chest with a single strike. He can shatter Shirou's wooden sword, reinforced to where its can be considered a metal rod, with his fist. He can strike and deflect Shirou's projected Noble Phantasms, and attack with enough force to damage Shirou's arms just from defending against his attacks. While his fists do not have enough strength to destroy a Noble Phantasm, he is able to destroy Shirou's imperfect replications with pure force. He can catch a full powered slash from Invisible Air between his elbow and knee without suffering any damage, and he can strike Saber's armor directly with no effect to his hands.

While enhanced by Caster, he is still only a human with no magic resistance, so a magus able to attack from a distance is more of a threat to him than a Servant. He fights on the front line while Caster is to support him and deal with enemy projectile attacks.[5] Caster must protect him from effects such as the drain from Blood Fort Andromeda and the effects of her own magecraft while in her temple.[7][12] Despite the weakness, he displays quick judgement in being able to easily close the distance to Rin before she can even realize it, strike the center of her body to render her unable to breath or use magecraft, and then decapitate her in an instant.[13] Against Caster in a serious fight, it would be a "conditional battle" where the winner is decided by whoever gets the first strike, Kuzuki with a quick, unseen strike or Caster with her overwhelming magecraft.[14]

Kuzuki was tempered by his origination to become a "lethal weapon", acting as a "tool" for their usage and trained in his one primary "function", murder, until they needed to utilize him. Normally kept from regular human knowledge due to it being excess "extra functions", it was necessary to allow him to become a "pseudo-human" to fulfill his primary "function." Those handling him felt that such common knowledge would make him inconsistent, acting as dead weight to slow down his primary function of finding the target without being detected, killing the victim before they are even aware of it, and then killing himself. He is able to use a social position as a teacher granted by the organization to blend in with the area, and even after leaving his duties, finds himself able to master the basic knowledge and skills to keep up with the job without difficulty.[3]

He is extremely unassuming in his daily life, appearing to be completely ordinary at first sight. The insightful Saber notices him to be "no ordinary man" at first glance, but cannot help feel "the more I look at him the more ordinary he feels" as she confidently declares that Kuzuki is not a Master. She only notices that his breathing is too natural and too controlled for a regular person. This trait is not enough to make her suspect anything "special" about him other than praising him for the extraordinary ability. She ranks him as physically being on par with Shirou, and not knowing of his fighting style, feels that he would do as well in battle as any regular human.[9]

He uses his normal appearance to gain an advantage over opponents who underestimate him, quickly moving to strike to kill the opponent before he is even noticed.[14][15] When ready to fight, he does not radiate any enmity or bloodlust, and simply enters his battle posture while giving off a clear murderous intent that hides his scariness. He is called more like an assassin than Assassin due to this. He is able to move about without making any sound or let any part of his presence be felt, supring Caster by appearing before her without alerting her.[16] He is the only one to notice Shirou observing them at the church, and as he does not have any emotion towards enemies, he is able to quickly attack without hesitation. He is unable to notice Archer before he kills Caster because he cannot detect magical energy.

Kuzuki uses a fighting style called Snake (蛇?) that was the basis for his means of assassination, keeping him without a weapon so as to allow him an easier chance at getting close to his target. He is an extremely fast learner, having mastered the art years before he was set to fulfill his "function", all while still keeping up his daily routine to perfect it over twenty years. Despite such aptitude, he was not taught any new techniques due to only being "created" to be a "snake tool."[3] It is a fighting style that aims at vital weak points like the forehead, throat, heart and spine, each strike launched with extreme precision and quick speed to the point where he can deliver three fatal strikes in a single breath. He has a policy of always attempting to deliver deathblows to the opponent, so those like Shades that can move even without heed of things like destroyed heads or spines require him to change his tactics to disabling their limbs.[6]

The crux of the fighting style is to keep his arms flexible like whips while quickly moving at unexpected right angles in order to keep it from having a concrete shape. He keeps his arms and stance steady like a rock while waiting to strike, and he is able quickly close in without revealing any hints as to how he advanced. His arms quickly extend, and his forearms move even more quickly from that point to strike with his "mountain-like fingers." The strikes come from the outside to the inside, the swinging arms changing direction using the elbow as the fulcrum to strike from impossible directions. He can easily strike the back of the head from a very close distance completely unbeknownst to the target. Even if that strike is seen through, he can easily alter the circular orbit of the path into a straight line directed from above to smash down on their head. He can quickly reach through an opponent's guard to strike them with the "serpent's fangs", and then use the "body of the snake", an elbow, to deal an additional blow.

Each is accurately aimed at the target's vital points and weak spots, and under Caster's reinforcement, they can damage Saber bluntly through her armor to directly target the core of her body. They are heavy and rapid in their intensity, rendering them almost invisible to an unexpecting fighter, but they are not an instant kill to someone like Saber. They are dull and sharp, and contain a poison that will lead to death, allowing him to go for the kill if the opponent even drops their guard for a second. Dodging the attacks does little, as his fists are "live snakes" capable of changing path to come back to the target. Saber is damaged badly because she has the reflexes to dodge the strikes, thus she got repeatedly "bitten", differing from Shirou who cannot see the fists and does not posses the reflexes to dodge them. He can only desperately parry and receive glazing blows. Kuzuki can also use the style in defense, making him able to react to a perfect surprise attack, in charging speed, footwork, timing, and the attack itself, from Saber and catch an invisible sword horizontally slashing at him with only his elbow and knee. While techniques to stop an enemy's blade with bare hands are practiced by experts in the present, the idea of a human doing such to a Servant is unbelievable to Saber.

Kuzuki lifting Saber.

All of the strikes up until that point are performed with only his left hand, as he does not use his right hand until the final strike. Unlike previous attacks that follow an arcing line, he executes the attack as a point and thrusts his fist like a lance directly at his target. Using precise accuracy, the attack can pierce through a throat, break bones, and smash a head to pieces. The attack managed to slay Rider, ripping her neck apart in one blow as if someone used a jack to rip off the meat and bone by crushing it, and it is capable of destroying Shirou's Kanshou and Bakuya guarding his chest and still blow him five meters away into a wall from the impact. Even if the strike is dodged, he can instead dig his fingers into the target's neck, as they can easily forget that a hand is originally something used to grab rather than punch. He can lift Saber with just his hand from this position and throw her at a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour due to his enhanced strength, knocking her out of the fight for a time after she collides into a wall. He mentions that he underestimated her, and that should have applied one more attack afterward.

He is able to accurately adapt his attacks in order to defeat opponents. He focuses his attacks on Saber's body and arms due to her protective armor, all while waiting to launch a fatal strike at the head. He does not attempt to follow her while she retreats, but instead uses various blows to keep her from escaping his range to keep his advantage over the reach of her sword in close quarters. The blows are not too heavy even though she cannot avoid them, but the pain from each blow numbs her mind. She becomes unable to counterattack from the heavy rain of attacks, and even her Instinct eventually fails her during the final moments of the battle. Kuzuki recognizes that Shirou relies on his Noble Phantasm to defend, so he makes it his goal to destroy the Projections in order to land a fatal blow.

The main idea of the style is to confuse the opponent and slay them before they can understand the mechanics of it, and it is further backed by his normal appearance that does not give away the idea of him being a trained killer. As an assassination technique only meant to be used once before the assassin kills themselves, it is something that must be fatal on the first strike. While the blows are strong, they are too odd and easily seen through if the opponent is not confused, showing the difference between a "technique" that is trained to an art and an "action" that is trained to the utmost limits. Catching Saber's blade and striking her in the back of the head unsettles her greatly due to her belief that he is just a normal human and her inability to understand the nature of such techniques. Due to experiencing the strange attacks for the first time, she is not able to understand the fighting style with her eyes, leading to her taking most of the attacks, and must rely on her honed Instinct simply to avoid the decisive blows.

While easier to comprehend on subsequent battles, it is still strong enough of a style that Shirou is barely able to hold him off for a minute at most even with Noble Phantasms and Archer's fighting style on his third battle with Kuzuki, as he cannot even begin to comprehend how to fight against the style. It would not work on Saber twice, so he retreats from her with haste once she is ready to fight again. While Shirou could never cope with it no matter how many strikes her receives, Saber is already used to them after their one exchange. Rin believes Archer would have no trouble with him due to having knowledge of it. Servants are more emphasized by their talent than their hand-to-hand prowess, so Bazett Fraga McRemitz, an expert at hand-to-hand combat thought of and developed by human beings, may be able to adapt to the style more quickly. He would likely win their first fight, very easily if Bazett underestimates him for a normal person, but she would be able to completely win against him in a second engagement. Out of himself, Bazett, and Kirei Kotomine, he would win as long as it is limited to one fight and he starts with a surprise attack.[15][17]

Even with repeated sparring matches against the skilled judo practitioner Reikan Ryuudou while Reikan goes all out against him, Kuzuki, who holds back on connecting with his strikes, can easily defeat him without being hit a single time. Otoko Hotaruzuka is amazed that someone Reikan cannot even hit exists, while Reikan comments that he needs another decade of training before he is worthy of being Kuzuki's opponent. Kuzuki comments that they are overstating his ability because he is only a "master of one art" and that if they were fighting with judo holds being accepted that Reikan would likely defeat him without issue.[10]

Kinoko Nasu claims that Kuzuki was listed as number one amongst the characters to be further explore in the Fate/hollow ataraxia sequel.[2]

Kazuhiro Nakata first voiced Souichirou in the Studio Deen version of Fate/stay night, Fate/tiger colosseum series andCarnival Phantasm. Unshō Ishizuka voiced Souichirou in Fate/Unlimited Codes.Masaki Terasoma is the latest voice actor who voiced Souichirou in the Ufotable adaption of Fate/stay night and in the PS Vita version of Fate/hollow ataraxia.

Souichirou Kuzuki [Person's name]
A teacher at the school which Shirou and gang enrolled. He taught social studies and ethics.
Kuzuki was the Master of Caster, but he was a regular man rather than a magus.
A mysterious man who suddenly appeared in Fuyuki City two years ago.
He was well-liked by the chief priest at the Ryuudou Temple and was granted residency in the temple.
He described himself as a "decayed killer", and true to his words, he did commit murder in the past.
Kuzuki's fighting technique was not something granted by Caster, but his own skills entirely.
Just like Caster appreciated Kuzuki, Kuzuki found something in Caster.
The reason which drove this husk of a man to fight, in a sense, was similar to that which drove Emiya Shirou.
He was a member of an assassination organization similar to the Nanayas in Tsukihime.
If there is a sequel, Kuzuki is number one on the list of characters I want to further explore.

[v] Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] Animation Material I - Kinoko and Takashi Q & A, p.042 [T]Translations by T.RoyQ: This is about Kuzuki-sensei who is physically stronger than regular people. Aside from his fists being strengthened by Caster, are the rest his own strength, or did Caster strengthened other parts of his body as well?

Q: This is about Kuzuki-sensei who is physically stronger than regular people. Aside from his fists being strengthened by Caster, are the rest his own strength, or did Caster strengthened other parts of his body as well? <Soujuurou of the Hill>

Nasu: In the anime version, his entire body is strengthened. When the excessively worrying Caster buffed him to ten times that of a normal human, since Kuzuki's base strength is higher than a normal human, he became even more ridiculous, and did the unthinkable during his fight with Saber. Caster was surprised herself: "What the? Isn't my Master a little too strong?!"Takeuchi: On a side note, it was also thanks to Caster's help that Kuzuki was able to move inside to Rider barrier.

[v] Comptiq 2006-03 issue - Fate Dojo Q & A:Q: Lancer, Caster, Assassin, and True Assassins; all with normal attack and Noble Phantasms of B or lower. If they fought against Berserker, wouldn't it be a one-sided fight? Or are there any of them that can match up against him?

Q. Lancer, Caster, Assassin, and True Assassins; all with normal attack and Noble Phantasms of B or lower. If they fought against Berserker, wouldn't it be a one-sided fight? Or are there any of them that can match up against him?

A: Assassin and True Assassin by themselves wouldn't even be a fight. Lancer can use his runes and Noble Phantasm together to temporarily raise the rank to A, but it'd still be a very disadvantageous fight but "one with some chances". Caster has two front-line Saber-class defenders, so if she uses her high sorcery then she'd be able to deal damage, but that would be limited to 2 to 3 times. Also, in the game, Assassin was able to push Berserker back because of the terrain advantage and support from Caster (weighing down Berserker's body). ...Well, since the compatibility of Assassin and Berserker is horrible, the fact that Berserker was even pushed back is enough to say "whoah, Kojirou's amazing".

Nasu-san CHECK!Welcome to the beginning of the unorthodox rumble series! The end of the ugly battle of the married couple.....yeah well, just as the adage goes about the loser being the one who falls for the other first, it'd end with Caster being the cause of her own defeat no matter what! You can do it, wakaokusama! ....would be the punchline I started off with, but if both were really serious it wouldn't even be a "fight". Kuzuki, who'd kill the opponent instantly before being noticed, and Caster, who has overwhelming firepower to annihilate the enemy with once the battle starts. Basically, whoever gets the first hit wins without question, would be the "conditional battle".

[v] Comptiq 2006-07 issue - Fate Dojo Q & A:Q: If Bazett and Kuzuki got in a hand-to-hand fight against each other, who would win?

Q: If Bazett and Kuzuki got in a hand-to-hand fight against each other, who would win?

A: If it's the first fight, then Kuzuki will win. If it's the second fight, then Bazett would pretty much completely win. Kuzuki could even drive Saber into a corner as long as his trick was kept hidden, but Bazett is also an expert at hand-to-hand combat thought of and developed by human beings. There's the possibility that she might adapt to Kuzuki's "snake" quicker than the Servants, who are more emphasized by their talent. However, since she might underestimate Kuzuki-sensei as being a normal person, Bazett could be beaten pretty simply.

Q: Between Kotomine, Bazett, Kuzuki, Melty Blood’s Miyako, and Kishima Kouma, who’d be the top 3 in a purely hand to hand fight with no weapons or magecraft?

A: I’m excluding Kouma since his existence itself has become a mystery.
And even if he didn’t have that nature, he’s like an athlete caught by drug testing.
Out of the four left, the winner in pure strength is Bazett.
If it’s limited to one match and a surprise attack, then it’s Kuzuki.
And if it’s the Kotomine from ten years ago, he’s stronger than Bazett overall.